Fishing reel



July 25, 1944. R. P. MCMAHoN FISHING REEL Filed Jan. 30, 1941 2Sheets-Sheet l R. P. MCMAHON v FISHING REEL July 25, 1944.

Filed Jan. 30, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 25,- 1944 FISHING-REEL Richard P.` McMahon, Bronson, Mich., assignor to Bronson ReelCompany, Bronson, Mich., a

corporation of Michigan Application January so, 1941,'sena1N0. 376,610 sclaims. (c1. 24eusi My invention relates to fishing reels of the typecommonly referred to as salt water reels. and in which the crank used bythe angler to reel in is restrained from motion in the direction ofreeling out, and the paying out of line must take place without rotationof the crank, either by disconnecting the spool from the crank or bypermitting slippage of a friction connection between the two. Many reelsof this type include means for permitting the line to be paid out ineither of these ways. My invention includes among its objects andadvantages a material increase in quietness and a material reduction inwear in the operation of such a reel.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a median section through a portion of a reel of the typereferred to, indicating the application thereto of mechanism accordingto the invention;

Figure 2 is a view of the chassis plate as on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is'an enlarged perspective of the pawlshifting spring;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the chassis plate proper; s

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view indicating a modified construction insection as in Figure l;

Figure 6 is a similar fragmentary section indicating anothermodification; and

Figure 7 is a view in section on line 1-1 of Figure 6. i

In the embodiment of the invention selected for illustration in Figuresl to 4, inclusive, the reel comprises the usual head plate I0 and tailplate l2 interconnected by pillars I4 and supporting the rotating spoolIl.

The crank i8 has an operating handle 20 and is rotatable about the axisof the tubular crankshaft 22, which is pivoted on the stud 24.Integrally united to turn with the crankshaft 22 is the ratchet wheel 26which may be restrained from rotation in the direction of reeling out bythe pivoted pawl 28. Loose on the shaft 22 is the drive gear 30 which isat all times in mesh with the pinion I2.

I have illustrated an adjustable friction drive connection between thecrankshaft 22 and the gear 30. The web of the gear 30 is positionedbetween friction washers Il and 26, and the friction washer 34 bearsagainst the land 39 on the ratchet wheel 26, and the friction washerbears 'against a metallic washer 40, the central opening of which isflattened on opposite sides to engage the flattened sides 42 of thecrank shaft 22. Above the washer 40 is a spring washer 44 v and abovethe spring washer is a thrust sleeve 48.

Ihe sleeve 46 lits over the non-circular outer surface of the shaft 22,as indicated in Figure 2, and is thus axially slidable .but notrotatable on the shaft. The star wheel 4l engages the threads I0 onthecrankshaft 22 and may be screwed down against the thrust sleeve Il tocompress the spring washer M so that the web of the gear 3l isss grippedbetween the friction washers 3l and The crank Il abuts a shoulder at Mon the crankshaft 22 and is fastened in place by the usual holding nut56.

In the type of reel selected for illustration, means are also providedfor disconnecting the spool entirely from the gear 30. The pinion 32includes clutch teeth entering inside the female clutch member 51. Theshifting yoke 50 has a U-shaped portion 6l)K the inner edge of whichenters a groove in the pinion 32, and the outer ends of the yoke slideon posts I2 and are urged in the direction for engaging the clutch bycoil springs 6I. The shifting plate 8B is bifurcated at its lower end todefine arms 68 which extend across under the ends of the yoke 5l, andfrom the arms lugs 10 project diagonally upward. It will be apparentthat movement of the shifting plate downward from the position of Figure2 will carry the lugs 1I under the arms of the shifting yoke 58 andforce the yoke and pinion out of clutching engagement with the spool,The shifting plate it is itself biased toward the position of Figure 2by coil springs 12 pressing against the arms 14 of the upper corners ofthe shifting plate, and the movement of the shifting plate is guided byengagement of the lower arms 88 between the posts B2 and by engagementof the edges of the intermediate throat I6 with guiding posts 18. Meansare provided for actuating the shifting plate in the nature of a shaftI0 journaled in the head plate i0, which shaft carries an eccentric pin83 at its inner end, which pin enters a suitable slot 84 in the upperend of the shifting plate. The shaft carries an operating lever 82provided with a handle 85 accessible to the operator.

'I'he parts so far described were known in the art prior to myinvention, but in the reels of the prior art the pawl 28 was providedwith a spring which constantly urged it into engagement with theadjacent teeth t6 of the ratchet wheel 28. Accordingly, during reelingin, the pawl would bounce from one tooth to the next and make a clickingor whirring sound depending on the speed of rotation. While such a noiseis quite vthe ratchet wheel 26 is provided with a land I2,

the edge of which is provided with a circumferential groove to receivethe pawl-biasing element Il. This element includes an arcuate springporsaid crank to said spool including means permitting said spool topayout line without rotation vof l said crank; means for preventingrotation of said crank in the direction of paying out line, comprising:a toothed ratchet integrally connected to turn with said crank; a pawlpivoted on said 'l frame; and pawl-biasing means for engaging said pawlwith said ratchet at the beginning of any rotation of said crank in thedirection of paying out line', and continuously holding said pawlclearof the path of said teeth during rotation of said crank in thedirection of reeling in: said 2. so that during movement of the ratchetin a clockwise direction. the force' of the frictionwill tend to relaxor unwind the circular portion ll so far as its gripping action on thegroove is concerned. whereas any initial movement of thev ratchet wheelin a counterclockwise direction will cause the portion It to grip thegroove more strongly and to move the pawl 2t positively into theposition of Figure2 at once. To prevent the pawl 2l and yoke ill frommoving so far during reeling in that they become disengaged from eachother, stop means are provided. I have illustrated a pin |02 positionedwhere it will strike the arm Il of the actuating element and limit theopening movement of the arm and pawl.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 5. the chassis plate i has nosuch countersink as at Il in the chassis plate Il, and the ratchet wheeli has a land i on its upper surface. which land. receives the holdingelement ||0 and also provides the friction surface for the adjacentwasher 34.

Without further elaboration the foregoing will so fully explain myinvention that others may, by applying knowledge current at the time ofapplication, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions ofservice. For instance. in

Figures 6 and 7 I have illustrated another em-` bodiment in which theratchet wheel is adjacent the outer, covering portion of the end platel0 instead of adjacent the chassis plate 88. In this embodiment, theratchet wheel ||2 is splined on the shaft 22 by engaging the same flats42 as the other splined elements, and the retaining spring IM is betweenthe sprocket and the cover I0. In this embodiment the pin |02 isomitted, and the spring IM terminates in a finger Ill which projectsdown into the slot Ill in the pawl |20, which pawl is suitably pivotedon a pintle |22 fastened in the head plate Il. Upon counterclockwiserotation of the ratchet ||2, as viewed in Figure 7, the finger iii tendsto move downward and to the left and the parts occupy the position ofFigure "I, with further clockwise rotation of thev pawl prevented by theengagement of the pawl with the ratchet. Upon clockwise rotation of theratchet ||2, the finger ile will move upward and to the right and thepawl ill will rotate counterclockwise to a DOsition entirely out of thepath of the ratchet teeth. This movement is limited by engagementbetween ilnger IIS and the end of slot Ill. 'I'he thrust sleeve |24transmits its thrust directly through the body of the ratchet wheelrdownto the overlying washer |20 which presses against the same spring washerM employed in Figure 1.

I claim:

l. In a fishing reel of the type embodying a frame; a spool journaled insaid frame; a crank journaled on said frame; and a transmission frombiasingvmeans comprising a shifting arm engaging said pawl, a lightfriction connection between said shifting arm and said` crank; saidvfriction connection including a grooved element rotating with saidratchet, and a resilient wire partly encircling said grooved element andresting in said groove,l said wire being connected to said shifting Yarm.

2. In a iishing reel of the type embodying a frame; a spool journaled insaid frame; a crank journaled on said frame; and a transmission fromsaid crank to said spool including means permitting said spool to payout line without rotation of said crank: means for preventing rotationof s aid crank in the direction of paying out line,

comprising: a toothed ratchet integrally con-v nected to turn with saidcrank; a pawl pivoted on said frame; and pawl-biasing means for engagingsaid pawl with said ratchet at the beginning of any rotation of saidcrank in thedirection of paying out line, and continuously holding saidpawl clear of thepath of said teeth during rotation of said crank in thedirection of reeling in;

said biasing means comprising a shifting arm engaging said pawl, a lightfriction connection between said shifting arm and lsaid crank; said vfriction connection including a grooved element rotating with saidratchet. and a resilient wire partly encircling said grooved element andresting in said groove, said wire lbeing connected to said shifting arm;said wire encircling said element in a direction such that the frictiontends to uncoil said wire and reduce the friction during movement in thedirection of reeling in.

43.- In a shing reel ofthe type embodying a frame; a spool journaled insaid frame; a crank journaled on said frame and a transmission from saidcrank to said spool including means permitting said spool to pay outline without rotation of said crank: means for preventing rotation ofsaid crank in the direction of paying out line, comprising: a toothedratchet integrally connected to turn with said crank; a pawl plvoted onsaid frame; and pawl-biasing means for engaging said pawl with saidratchet at the beginning of any rotation of said crank in the directionof paying out line, and continuously holding said pawl clear of the pathvoi? said teeth during rotation of said crank in the direction of reel#ing in; said biasing means comprising a shifting arm engaging said pawl,a light friction connection between said shifting arm and said crank.and stop means to limit movement of the parts in the direction fordisengaging said pawl, said stop means comprising a portion `of saidarmend entering a slot in said pawl, said arm moving in a directionoblique to said slot, one end of said slot being positioned to engagesaid arm and limit the movement of said parts during reeling in.

RICHARD P. McMAHON.

